grapejuice

Hamfist together a romance? you definitely have a very clear idea about what you think a romance should be and I guess you're not willing to open up to something that's different. They were married. It wasn't a fairy tale. But now they know eachother and they've finally put themselves on the same page. They're now on the same path so the last barrier is down. They've decided to have a family. And that's it. This is their love story whether you recognize it or not. It doesn't conform to the hackneyed dramas and romance novels. Very few people have 'romances' that do. So, this idea that it has to be a certain way or it's just being 'hamfisted' in ... that's just not the way it goes. Every relationship is different. Every era is different. Every person is different. There is no one 'right' kind of romance.

if you care most about romance you might want to move on. You will miss a great drama but hey ... kisses are all important ...

she is ultimately understandable and pitiable. And there may be some development with the FL

The whole episode is not just on the sister though. The Marquis is JQs strongest ally and maybe his only ally. But his family is eager to cut the Lin's out of their midst and downgrade them or replace them with whoever the concubine's family is. That shows that there is a fallout for JQ leaving his position. Notice that there were also people at 4th sisters party who felt completely at ease criticizing the Lin family in stage whispers, right in front of them. That spoke volumes too.

So, the Lin family had to protect their daughter and their position in Yuan family alliance but they couldn't do that without risking the alliance and the friendship altogether. That's quite a tension really.

I think it also shows that the Lin are more Shen-like now in addition to being their pragmatic selves. They're more willing to step up for a principle and defend their integrity than they were when things were falling down completely in grandfather's day. Not sure how this positions them for the future though.

p.s. I'm not going to tease you about wanting more of the leads romance in this episode instead of the sisters tale. But I think a whole episode of handholding and talking about how we fell in love wouldn't set things up well for what's to come. :-)

her family or Yuan family? Yuan family were plotting against the Lins that had married in. They were trying to cut them out on purpose. So, asking up front wouldn't have worked. They needed to fill the room with witnesses and apply pressure in order to stop the plot.

Because that would be asking for too much in those days. And it would be bargaining from a position of weakness ... having given up the ultimate goal. But the coordination was so good from the whole team that they must have discussed it at some point. I don't think LX and JQ would have been just guessing was Xiuru wanted.

I'm thinking they must have had a bit of a chat about what Xiuru wanted. Everyone played their part so well that they must have coordinated. I even started to wonder whether the Marquis was in on it ... or that he had figured it out near the end. Probably not but it was so well played to ambush his mother's plan ... so satisfying. :-)

Ah. True. I guess I was extending or looking at the bigger picture to read it as ... betray the woman for the unborn child ...

If I betray her for a son I've never met ... hmmm.
LJQ would probably also be pro choice !!!

I noticed that LX mom ---the commoner madam Xu --- also spoke up with confidence and tact during that gathering. And she looked amazing too. Totally held her own.

His mother should have had more than one son and not heaped all that responsibility on an only child. If mom insists on blaming, she should blame herself too.

omg. I'm sorry. There are too many blossoms. Blossom. In Blossom. Blossoms of Power ... the one I was trying to remember and recommend was Blossoms in Adversity. FL is great (Zhang Jing Yi - Reborn, Zang Hai), ML not so much but it's a cool come back from exile kind of rebuilding the family story. Sorry for the confusion.

Ahhh. Research actually shows ... when we see women and men do the same number of good acts ... we tend to remember that the woman did fewer so when it's made obvious that they've done the same number or when hers are highlighted, it feels off/wrong to us. Nobody is complaining that the ML is too perfect because he's done a couple of quite obviously bad zingers but ... when you think about it, isn't he kind of too good and too capable otherwise? But nobody is saying that he's too much of a hero when he's also a bit too good to be true.

Oh. I have a treat for you!!! There's Blossom, excellent. And there's In Blossom also very good if you haven't seen it. The ML for In Blossom isn't' nearly as good as Lu Yuxiao but the FL is pretty amazing and fun to watch. Blossom is a shade better than In Blossom but both are memorable ... well, in my view.

And the Catholic practice of banning birth control? So that women would have many, many, many children? My high school friend's mother had 13 children all boys except for the one girl. She went to church every morning and died before 60.

Actually, she didn't solve the problem all by herself this time. I would say that it was quite the combined attack with the 3rd sister, the daughter, the first madam Lin, LX, JBQ and even the Marquis all being involved. Everyone played their part very well. And the First madam was maybe a much bigger mover than it seems at first. She kind of spiked the ball for everyone else to smash it.

He finally pulled out the last, biggest barrier between them so 'suddenly' is what would happen in this case. And I think her just being there for a wedding night was enough of a statement of love. Remembering that love was different then than now. We put so much stock in it and using words to express it but, in those days, love was recognized as being something that would morph or fade so other things like respect and shared values were a bigger part of the package that people were looking for. Anyway, putting her body on the line ... is quite a statement.

There have to be rest moments to distinguish and elevate the more climactic moments. And give us a rest so that we can collect ourselves and not be overwhelmed.

It's not always a bad thing that a perfumes scent changes and fades. It will even merge with your body and become more unique to you as you wear it over time.

Wow. TY for sharing this. So many insights expressed so well. I's amazing what we miss the first time we see something. Rewatch is a much deeper experience.